


Wicked Little Town

by 89tczier



Category: Carrie - Stephen King, IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Eddie Kaspbrak Has Powers, Set in the 90s, Sonia Kaspbrak Being Terrible, Tags will be updated, implied religious abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28429710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/89tczier/pseuds/89tczier
Summary: Eddie clenched his fists and something felt as though it was knotting up in his chest. The inhaler resting in the front pocket of his bag called out to him, but in his distress, Eddie just ignored it. His throat tightened and a cold sweat started breaking out on the back of his neck. His eyes flickered up for just a second, and as they did, there was a little snap in Eddie’s brain, and everything coiling up in his body seemed to undo itself.Eddie Kaspbrak is aware that there is probably something wrong with his family's history. Eddie Kaspbrak is also aware that there is also probably something very, very wrong with him.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Wicked Little Town

Following the _Prom Night Massacre_ of _1979_ , investigations have been conducted into the White family tree in an attempt to track the _TK gene_ through female relatives. Those that had agreed to be interviewed ( _Carrietta White’s_ more distant relatives) had no suspect events in their pasts that would lead investigators to worry, something that the testing (that we have been assured was ethical and performed with full consent) would go on to confirm as well. It bears reminding that the _TK Gene_ is entirely regressive in males and very rarely dominant in females [...]

  
  
  


Eddie had only been vaguely aware of the stain on his family’s history: a distant relative, a girl his age, committed some atrocity and levelled a whole town (Eddie had always assumed that last part was figurative). That information he’d gathered entirely from breaking rules. He’d creep out of his room to listen to his mother and aunts gossip about it with hushed voices from the top of the stairs (he was not allowed to be up after bedtime, but he knew how to be quiet, which part of the stair would creek under his weight, knew the sound of his mother’s approaching footsteps); He asked an older cousin of his about it (he was not allowed to ask those kind of questions to any of the older kids, but he knew which ones would probably tell him the most before catching on to what Eddie was doing), he’d even dug an old newspaper out of the bin (he was not allowed to put his hands near bins, let alone fish things out of them, germs transfer quickly and what if the old, damp ink had absorbed into his skin). His mother had hurriedly read it that morning, and it had stayed in his mind after he’d caught the headline:

**PROM NIGHT FRIGHT: LOOKING BACK ON THE PROM NIGHT SLAUGHTER TEN YEARS LATER – SURVIVOR TESTIMONY INCLUDED**

He didn’t get very far into the article, his mother must have realised the live bomb she’d left in the living room and went back to properly dispose of it. She’d shrieked when she saw Eddie sitting there, legs crossed with the paper splayed over his small lap. He was sent to bed without supper that night, dragged up the stairs with his mother’s nails digging into his wrist (the crescent imprints only faded after two days). 

Eventually, Eddie learned to stop trying. The punishments when he eventually slipped up and got caught were never worth what little information he’d discover: the only time he’d be let out of the house was when he’d accompany his mother to church on Sunday mornings; he’d have his things taken and put high up, including the picture of his father he kept on the table next to his bed (the picture was never out of his room for more than a night, returning to the same spot the next morning. His mother must have felt remorseful and returned it, fixing him with a poorly hidden scowl when he would come downstairs). That and each time he was caught or found out, his mother’s lower lip would wobble, tears welling up in her eyes. She’d whimper like he’d turned around and scratched at her, convinced that Eddie did not love her, he wouldn’t hurt her like this if he did. Hearing this, Eddie would crumble. His body would heave with sobs, needing comfort but far too afraid to step forward to seek it. He’d give a flurry of apologises, heart dropping to his stomach as the guilt coursed through him _because how could he hurt his mama like this if he loved her, he clearly didn’t love her enough, what kind of son doesn’t love his mama?_

The older he got, the worse his mother reacted, so he gave up. 

To his mother, the subject seemed to have been dropped instantly, her son finally realising to stop chasing after things that would apparently hurt him, and Eddie was a little relieved that he no longer had to fear his mother’s watchful eye, though the curiosity never really faded. The flame of his curiosity had suffocated but its embers still smouldered in the ashes.

**1996**

The morning was overcast and chilly enough that Eddie felt as though he’d proven something by leaving his jacket at home. The goosebumps covering his bare arms was bearable enough 

( _I’ll take that over the damp heat back home_ , something mean inside him thought) 

and even though he knew prolonged exposure to lower temperatures increased the risk of virus contraction, Eddie also knew that he could brave it, trying to ignore the spikes of anxiety by watching the track team warm up.

It had become routine for Eddie that in the colder months of the year, when his mother would not let him walk to school with Bill for fear he’d catch something on the way there, he’d ask to be driven to school. He’d try and leave as early as he could get away with so his mother wouldn’t risk dropping him off with all the other cars around incase _I slip and fall, ma_. Bill would also get to school early and join him up on the bleacher stands, greeting him with a smile that could make Eddie forget all about the cold.

Bill was late that morning, and Eddie was trying his best not to let it sour his mood. It had been happening for the last two or three weeks, Bill would hurry up the bleacher steps only a few minutes before the first bell would ring.

He shuffled around a little and rubbed his hands together, zoning in on one track runner to focus on rather than work himself into a bad mood. Some stocky kid, warming up before the run. Eddie only sort of recognised him - he’d moved into town a few years ago and was actively pursued by the bullies at their school, like himself, Bill and Stan. It stopped almost the instant the kid had a growth spurt and toned up; a little bit like how once Bill started going to speech therapy, his torment stopped as well. That, in turn, earned Eddie and Stan a slightly more survivable high school experience. Bill’s popularity, in fact, skyrocketed as they entered junior year. He joined the baseball team, he got friends outside of Stan and Eddie, and last month, Bill got a girlfriend. 

It was only a matter of time before it happened, of course. Bill Denbrough was an incredibly kind person and had always been handsome, of course girls would start becoming more and more interested in him. So when Audra Phillips shyly asked to speak to Billy during lunch, Eddie should have known what was coming. It had still caught him off guard, feeling vaguely like a worst nightmare had come to realisation without him really understanding why. Just seeing them together made something in Eddie’s gut turn over. Feeling bad or even angry about Bill being happy ended up making him feel guilty too, so he never said anything; even when Bill showed up late to the bleachers because he’d slept in after talking to Audra all night over the phone or on AOL (something Eddie wasn’t even allowed to own).

_he’s replacing me_

Eddie clenched his fists and something felt as though it was knotting up in his chest. The inhaler resting in the front pocket of his bag called out to him, but in his distress, Eddie just ignored it. His throat tightened and a cold sweat started breaking out on the back of his neck. His eyes flickered up for just a second, and as they did, there was a little snap in Eddie’s brain, and everything coiling up in his body seemed to undo itself.

The kid that Eddie had been watching stumbled over something Eddie couldn’t see and landed , but a few other kids and the coach gathered around to check it out. Eddie averted his gaze, hoping to phase through the plastic bench out of sight. 

_what did I do what did I do what did I_

What could he have done? He was probably a hundred feet away, no one on the track was even looking at him.

“Hey, Eddie!”

Instantly, the strange cocktail of guilt and shame disappeared from Eddie’s stomach as Bill came into view. He looked nice in the mornings, not that he didn’t always look nice, but his hair would be neat and he’d always greet Eddie so warmly. No matter how terrible Eddie was feeling, Bill could make that negativity vanish. Eddie felt lucky to have a friend as close as Bill. Eddie returned the smile.

“Sorry I’m late, man,”

Eddie wasn’t mad anymore, “Oh, it’s okay-”

“It’s just, me and Audra stayed up until like- three talking.”

Nevermind, Eddie felt like he could rip a phonebook in half.

“It’s ‘Audra and I’.”

A weak response, but the only alternative to it would be to pass some snide comment that would get them into an argument, and the only thing worse than not getting to talk to Bill very much in the morning was not talking to Bill for the whole day. That had happened when he’d first gone to Stan and Eddie to tell them about Audra. Eddie got mad for reasons he really didn’t know how to articulate and said some petty things. Then Bill got mad, they didn’t speak for three days, and Eddie felt sicker than he had in years. His mother had even threatened to take him to the hospital (that had worked Eddie up into a frenzy so great that it felt like the house was shaking).

He did not want a repeat of that. So Eddie learned to just squeeze his hands between his legs and try not to let his tongue get away from him.

Bill chuckled, “okay then, Audra and I stayed up all night talking. Oh Eddie, she’s- I- she makes me feel…”

The worst part of it was that Eddie couldn’t help but like Audra. She was the type of girl who stood up for people, she treated Eddie and Stan as if they were old friends, she was ambitious (Eddie couldn’t even remember how many extra-curriculars she was taking) and she made Bill so happy it was hard not to be happy for him. The only logical reason Eddie had as to why he was struggling to wrap his head around their relationship was that he didn’t get to see Bill nearly as often as he used to (and that meant that Eddie didn’t really get to see anyone, his mother wasn’t shy about disproving his friendship with Stan). He’d known Bill since he was four, it would make sense that Eddie would have a hard time adjusting to all of this, wouldn’t it? That was his current reasoning, as childish as it made him feel, and there was something in the back of Eddie’s mind that stopped him from delving into it any deeper.

Bill apparently hadn’t noticed Eddie’s little crisis, and had just begun to ask Eddie if he was free that Friday afternoon. Instantly, Eddie perked up.

“I know it’s a little bit short notice, but I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.” Bill smiled at him (Eddie felt embarrassed about just how validating that little comment was), “Would your mom be okay with it?”

Eddie did his best not to betray his excitement as he replied, “I’m sure she’ll be fine with it, it’s only over to your house, anyway…”

Bill grinned in response, giving him a quick side hug as the first bell rang, and sped off down the metal steps. Eddie followed in suit, too giddy to notice the commotion that was still happening on the track team. Stan would later tell him that a long, three inch wide crack had essentially appeared out of nowhere as they collected their books, and another dose of guilt would follow when the same kid Eddie had been watching walked into Social Studies with an ugly blue bruise along his shin. Eddie didn’t understand 

_you know what you can do_

exactly why he felt so guilty, but it was a feeling he was used to.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr - 89tczier


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